Singer Patti Smith demands U.S. CLOSE GUANTANAMO PRISON, NOW!

WITHOUT CHAINS

Patti Smith debuted this song in New York City at the final show of the famed rock club CBGB’s on October 15, 2006. Since then, she has posted the song on her website (see link below) and written the Foreword to Murat Kurnaz's new book, FIVE YEARS OF MY LIFE: An Innocent Man in Guantanamo.


Here are Patti Smith's comments before she played the song in 2006:

PATTI SMITH: This is a new song, and I actually wish we didn’t have to write it, because it was written in response to the situation in Guantanamo. I writ this song because I was reading about a fellow, Murat Kurnaz, who was imprisoned about four and a half years ago. They didn’t have anything especially on him, they just felt slightly suspicious, so they sent him to Afghanistan and then they sent him to Guantanamo Bay, where he was imprisoned for four and a half years. His feet were in chains, and he had a neon light in his cell on 24 hours a day. This fellow was finally released a couple of months ago, because they didn’t have nothing on him. When they made him a free man, what they did was to put him in an airplane, in chains, and flew him back home, in chains, and presented him to him wife and parents, in chains. That is the new American version of free. What really struck me about this particular story was this fellow was born in 1982, the same year as my son. I can only imagine what that felt like for his mother. The situation in Guantanamo Bay Prison is unacceptable on every level. It is our particular shame and it’s a stain on the United States, so I’m sorry we had to write this song.

CLOSE GUANTANAMO PRISON, NOW!


You can download WITHOUT CHAINS here:

http://pattismith.net/audio/Without_Chains.mp3

__________________

FIVE YEARS OF MY LIFE: An Innocent Man in Guantanamo (2008)
By Murat Kurnaz, with Helmut Kuhn. Foreword by Patti Smith.
Palgrave Macmillan, New York. Hardcover, 256 pp.

__________________

PATTI SMITH’S FOREWORD:

Murat Kurnaz was arrested in the winter of 2001 in Peshawar, Pakistan, known as the City of Flowers. The subsequent five years Murat spent as a detainee in the United States military prison at Guantanamo Bay Naval base, with no formal charge lodged against him, reflects a terrible flaw in our judicial system. In the case of Murat Kurnaz, the accuser had the greater power over the accused. This violation of the basic civil right to due process poses a great threat to our safety and stability as a free people.

My reaction to his ordeal is one of a mother, as well as an artist and concerned citizen. Murat Kurnaz is the same age as my own son. I could only imagine the horror and frustration his mother experienced while attempting to penetrate the labyrinth of bureaucratic secrecy that surrounded Murat's internment. I considered deeply how I would feel if my own son languished in prison, detained for years of his life without formal charge, without trial.

To compound the injustice, it was reported that most of the evidence held against Murat Kurnaz was found to be exculpatory. In truth, I had to consult my dictionary to understand the meaning of this word. I was shocked to learn it means that someone is free of guilt or blame. This information would have been a godsend to his family and council and should have enabled his quick release. Instead, Murat languished in prison for another four years, even after it became clear to both U.S. and foreign authorities that he was innocent.

In the summer of 2006, after exhaustive negotiations on his behalf, Murat reclaimed his freedom. This long-awaited moment, his release after nearly five years of harsh detention, turned instead into a shocking continuation of his confinement. Muzzled and shackled for the duration of a seventeen-hour flight, Murat was returned to his homeland in the same manner one might transport a dangerous animal. The image of this young man, who had already experienced years of deprivation and humiliation, limping in chains drew from within me a deep sense of outrage.

Yet this final dehumanizing act did not break Murat Kurnaz. He found the strength to meditate on these events in his memoir, to reclaim his individuality, to openly practice his faith, to once again ride a motorbike and listen to music. Though the crown of his youth was taken from him, he offers us his experiences unfettered by the poison of bitterness.

When in prison Murat Kurnaz prayed for patience and strength. Surely the Most Excellent Protector shepherded him through his suffering, and the qualities that he prayed for will continue to illuminate his life.

________________________


WITHOUT CHAINS was written in early September 2006, in response to the release of Murat Kurnaz from the U.S. military prison at Guantanamo Bay Naval Base after being detained for over four years. We are posting the song because of numerous requests. At this point the song may serve to raise questions as to the status of the Guantanamo detainees. This is a heart breaking legal and moral issue. We cannot forget these human beings.


WITHOUT CHAINS by Patti Smith and Tony Shanahan

For four long years
was I a man
dreaming in chains
with the lights on
a netherworld
nothing to say
thoughts impure
at Guantanamo Bay

now I'm learning
to walk
I’m learning
to walk
without chains
to walk
without chains
without chains
without chains

born in Bremen
played guitar
a young apprentice
building ships
loved and married
heard the call
is attaining wisdom
the pursuit of fools?

journeyed to Pakistan
to study Koran
taken in custody
no reason why
then a prison camp
no freedom to breathe
branded an enemy
an enemy

now I'm learning
to walk
I’m learning
to walk
without chains
to walk
without chains
without chains
without chains

no fault was found
yet do they believe
then flown home
a version of free
chained to the floor
muzzled and bound
a last humiliation
left to endure
they say I walk
strange
that may be so
it’s been a long time
since I walked at all

now I'm learning
to walk
without chains
to talk
without chains
to breathe
without chains
to pray
without chains
to live
without chains
without chains